Mops have been in existence for many years, and they have been designed in various ways for different uses. For example, I have previously designed a metal mop frame used with a center-mounted handle that may easily be reversed thereby permitting use one of two possible mopping surfaces. In this type of mop, one edge of the frame is provided with an interruption, to permit pivoting of the handle through the frame. This permits one to select one side of the mop or the other side as the downward-facing mopping surface.
A two-sided removable cover is used with this type of mop. So that the cover does not interfere with rotation of the handle, the cover is provided with a slot that extends from the pivotal connection of the frame to the frame edge. This arrangement provides the advantage that the mop cover may be reversed, by simply rotating the handle about the pivot, without removing the mop cover, and without the cover interfering with the handle. See the detailed description of this device in my prior U.S. Pat. No. 4,114,223, issued on Sep. 19, 1978, entitled "Mop Having a Removable Cover".
While this mop works well for its intended purpose, it is not without its shortcomings. In particular, this type of mop requires the manufacture of a relatively expensive, heavy metallic frame structure in order to support the cover, and so that the handle does not damage the frame after repeated moppings.
In addition, my prior mop has a fairly narrow interruption, which is only wide enough to permit attachment of the pivotally mounted handle. Thus, it cannot be used to cover a large area without the user stepping from side to side, that is, the user must stand basically behind or in front of the mop, since the narrow interruption for the handle does not easily permit movement of the mop from side to side.
Since my invention of the reversible mop, various other mops have been devised, such as that shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,656,686, issued to Moss et al., and assigned to Seeco Industries, Inc. That type of mop has a frame which is formed from a molded plastic base member which has a substantially flat bottom surface.
Because this type of mop is formed of a molded plastic, it is relatively inexpensive to manufacture.
In addition, because the Moss mop has a base member with a substantially flat bottom surface, it can be used for applying uniform pressure over substantially the entire surface of the mop, to maximize the amount of surface contact with the floor for better mopping.
However, the Moss mop is not reversible, and therefore, when the mop cover becomes dirty, the cover must be removed and a new cover must always be installed.
What is needed is a mop which would avoid all of the above-mentioned shortcomings.
In particular, the mop should be easily reversible, such as by permitting the handle to be rotated through the frame from one side to the other.
The mop frame should be easy to manufacture and should provide pressure uniformly over substantially the entire surface of the cover, regardless of which side of the frame is positioned against the floor.
In addition, the mop should have a cover that is inexpensible to manufacture and be easy to install, without the need for clips, snaps or other fastening mechanisms being necessary to hold the cover in place on the mop frame.
Furthermore, it should be possible to adopt the mop frame for rapid side to side mopping movements, which would greatly improve the utility of the mop for application to large surfaces.
Finally, the handle should attach to the frame in such a way that repeated motion of the handle does not wear away or otherwise damage the frame after repeated use.